Sly Flourish DM Tips is a good framework for new DMs. The advice offered is practical and based on a significant amount of experience running games. As a matter of fact, if you haven’t run a campaign before and plan on starting one, you could save yourself a lot of headaches by reading this. For the experienced DM, there are some tips in there that remind you to keep things fresh and beef up your game a bit.

The book basically includes sections on how to plan your game, make an interesting story, keep players engaged, make encounters interesting, and using props and extras to enhance your game. I fell into a lot of the pitfalls that this supplement warns against and feel I learned them the hard way. For that reason, I see the value in this book. The negative is the book really should be two-column or compacted more. It just feels like a college essay over a game supplement. That’s a small issue though and has nothing to do with content.

I feel like I say this a lot, but this book surprised me. Maybe I should have higher expectations or maybe I’m easily surprised. Either way, Darwin’s World is something any Savage World’s fan should have. Let me boil the book down into a single word . . . options. This book features your customary and comprehensive background on the world. What has happened to cause this apocalypse, what is life like, who might your run into, what are the dangers, etc. Obviously they leave a lot of room for you to make the world your own.

Then they hit you with pages upon pages of types of hazards (radiation, waste, sickness, hunger, weather, and on and on), towns (including maps, possible story hooks, people, places, etc.), factions (raiders, lawmen, mutants, ghouls, OH THE HUMANITY), creatures (animals, horribly disfigured things, hybrid mutants you don’t want to know how they were created in the first place), robots (Are you still reading these examples? Isn’t it awesome enough as it is? A whole chapter on robots?), and last but definitely not least equipment (weapons, armor, cars, tools, survival gear). This book has so many details on things you might find, run into, fight, steal, run away from, get killed by, or just marvel at, that if you don’t immediately have an idea for a post-apocalyptic campaign, then you may suffer from severe imagination impairment. Go to the doctor before it’s too late.

After reading this, I absolutely want to run some crazy wasteland adventures. Savage Worlds is so easy that anyone can jump in. Oh, you need a Savage Worlds Explorer’s Handbook to run this. Just in case there needs to be a disclaimer.

For those rogues and thieves in the party, Break & Enter: Book 1 presents some options for finally showcasing your stealth. No longer do you have to just sneak by a guard or hide in a box while waiting for that patrol to pass. You can just kill the guy and get on with the adventure.

The premise of this supplement is to add a new mechanic called Stealth Encounters to your D&D 4E game. The gist is that characters who remain hidden (a new condition defined in the book) can attack and kill an unaware opponent (also defined in the book) with relative easy. The HP of unaware opponents is disturbingly low, but represents a well placed attack on a completely unsuspecting foe. It also seems incredibly fun and rewarding when it works. I’m not sure how it will play out when it doesn’t.

The book gives you all the rules you need to understand, create, and run Stealth Encounters. I won’t go into detail on all the mechanics here as that would spoil the book. Needless to say, groups may find themselves sneaking around alarms, hazards, guards, and traps to reach a destination and if that doesn’t work, quickly eliminating the threat. The only drawback I can see right now is that the guardian NPCs you face also have reduced HP even when they realize you are sneaking up on them. I don’t quite understand why that is the case other than it does reduce the combat time if you do fail those stealth rolls. Who doesn’t every once in a while?

The book provides a number of examples of alarms, guardians, traps, etc. and also a handy and relatively painless conversion chart so you can roll up any threat you want out of the hundreds of dangers available in the D&D Compendium. I like this premise and hope to implement it in my campaign as the sneakier people tend to have a hard time using the stealth rules to really shine. This should add some balance, but could also become very unbalanced if all combat is soon resolved in two or three rounds. We’ll see how it goes. As with most things, moderation and proper implementation will likely be the key.

I haven’t actually run this yet, but have read through to prepare for an upcoming Rogue Trader campaign. As you can always expect with FFG’s Warhammer 40K supplements, they are very high quality PDFs and feature great artwork. They also provide a significant amount of background information on Damaris, the primary planet of concern in this scenario. This particular adventure is a nice mix of political maneuvering, strategic large scale battles, and tactical ship combat (if you want it). It isn’t the standard crew of your ship running and gunning through hordes of enemies as much as an extended military campaign. However, a GM could easily add in vignettes of more personal combat to supplement the larger scale battles to keep their players feeling a bit more on edge.

Overall, I think this is a great option for running a Rogue Trader game that really feels like you are a powerful force with lots of resources at your disposal. Because it is the first in a series of scenarios, you can expect to follow up on the events of The Frozen Reaches or use it as a standalone mission in any campaign. It’s worth checking out one way or another. You can also use the NPC Appendix and stat blocks to insert these characters into any number of Warhammer 40K games. Good deal all around.

I know I review a lot of these books, but they’re just so good. Again, there is more information on the Warhammer 40K universe, specifically surrounding faith. This is a logical addition to the Dark Heresy line where characters work for an Inquisitor fighting against the heretics bent on undermining the God-Emperor’s rule. Running at almost 150 pages, the first third details faith in the Imperium with a history of the Imperial Creed and the many wars fought to continue its guidance (oppression).

The next several chapters are filled with the plethora of character options you have come to expect. There are new origin worlds, backgrounds, career ranks, etc. in the second chapter. The third gives a good summary of the Sisters of Battle and how you can create one for your Dark Heresy campaign. Then there are the two chapters giving new rules and powers for Faith and powerful religious artifacts and tools to combat Chaos and corruption.

The last chapter focuses on how to integrate the Ecclesiarchy into your campaign and includes NPCs from the Calixis Sector.

Overall, I think you’ve come to expect quality from Warhammer 40K expansions. This delivers as well as any of them. The fact that there are additional options for any character and then full sub-Sister of Battle options is pretty nice. The more zealous players should pick this up and really deliver the word of the God-Emperor right up Chaos’ . . . .

This is a short and FREE supplement for Monsters and Other Childish Things: The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor. It is worth more than free, that’s for sure. As a matter of fact, this is one of my favorite types of supplements. You can basically create your creepy child in mere minutes. This focuses specifically on the creepy powers, because you can pretty much figure the stats out on your own. There are plenty of options, lots of diversity between them, and imaginative descriptions so that by the end of your one roll of 5 dice, you have your character’s powers. If you are like me, you’ll probably use it more like a menu and just pick what you want. That’s fine too. Either way, you’re up and running with a creepy kid to explore Candlewick in no time.

This book blew my mind . . . literally. Ok, not literally. However, the Smith and Robards 1880 Catalog was so much more than I expected. First, it details the history of the Smith and Robards company, who each of them were, and how they created some mundane (but useful) and extraordinary gadgets for pioneers in the Weird West. Then it goes through mechanics of how you actually purchase the items and what can go wrong during the process. That doesn't even include what could go wrong once you actually get the thing. Oh yeah, it also has a TON of new items, options to trick out things like wagons, airships, guns, electrosabres, etc., and new rules for the Marshall (GM)

Totally worth it to add some additional flavor and goodies for your players.

I can never say this enough, "Trail of Cthulhu is the best Lovecraftian horror game out there." Why? It's easy to play, easy to learn, fast, and engaging. Oh, and they have TONS of scenarios you can run for $7 and they are all amazing.

The Dead White World is not an exception. The investigators awake from a train wreck to find the world is dead and oddly beautiful flowers grow everywhere. What will your players do? Find out by buying this book. The best part of this book? It is part of a 3 book arc. But better yet? This book (and I hope the follow on books) is broken into 3 scenes that are easily one session of play each. You don't need to stop mid-scenario or "figure out a break". The investigators will be disoriented, confused, and of course, scared. It doesn't take long for things to get weird . . . and dangerous. Best of all, the book encourages investigators to call their own Stability tests and relish in insanity. It is likely no one will survive the whole campaign and that should be the fun part. How long can you last? Buy this book and find out.

Do I need to tell anyone to buy this? I shouldn't have to. It's amazing. You should know that already. Fantasy Flight decks out their supplements with more options than a Baskin Robbins.

It starts with the obvious ship components, new hulls (Grand Cruisers anyone?), and weapons. If you don't love Nova Cannons that shoot warheads through the Warp before hitting their target, you don't play Rogue Trader. Then they add in a ton of backstory, life on a warship, and the history/status of the current Battlefleet Koronus.

For the GMs, there is plenty of detail on Xenos threats, rules for more detailed space battles (squadrons, damaging fleets, mustering your fleet, deploying forces, etc.) There are a lot of new mechanics here for the folks who want to really dig into space battle. That's me. I love the new options, multiple pregenerated ships to throw against your players or give to them, and of course Xenos scum.

It may be one of the shorter books at around 150 pages, but it also isn't too pricey. If you want more than just the standard ship battles or more options for you and your players to create the most dangerous ships in the fleet, then this is your book.

Does your genetically perfect super soldier in hulking power armor feel a little lacking? BUY THIS BOOK! Yeah, as with all of Fantasy Flight's Warhammer 40K supplements, there are hundreds of pages of new amazing stuff for your Space Marine. There are new Chapters that are sure to be fan favorites. Is your favorite Chapter still not there? Build your own with the new rules. There are tons of other new options for every Marine, deeds, distinctions, and even advanced specialties. Um . . . my Techmarine can literally die and be entombed in a giant rolling mech-fortress as a specialty. Check that box.

Want more awesome stuff? It's got that too. More weapons, gear, power armor, vehicles, and more. There are new mechanics for renown, gaining honors, and requisitioning crazy stuff from the Imperium. Finally, the book adds a ton of information on Watch Fortress Erioch for your campaign with NPCs, adventure seeds, and even prisoners onboard. This supplement just makes me that much more excited for my next Deathwatch game.

Progenitor is like half history book, half Wild Talents super-supplement. Pun intended. This is a huge book that describes a campaign frame in which one Talent started it all. From there, the power spread to offspring and throughout the populace. There is a TON of rich history of the world, how Talents have affected it, and how you can run your game during any number of ages. It also provides new options for Talents (intrinsic traits, sources, etc.) and clarifies just how powerful someone with an Xd pool of dice really is. I love the added flavor and this is indeed a robust campaign frame. With the low price of the Essentials book, you can always afford to pick this up and launch an epic campaign with an entire world fleshed out at your fingertips.

I use MapTools on occasion and this is quite a nice set of natural creatures and tokens. It is always nice to have representative graphics for the monsters players encounter. The detail is enough to get the gist, but not so great that you lose track of what is what. That's a tough balance which I think is struck well here. Worth the bucks on this one.

I think this is worth a look if you have campaigns that don't have long dungeon crawls. I run a sandbox style game with a lot more rests and breaks between events than most DMs. This book gives some options for longer term effects for players that get bloodied or knocked unconscious. It takes a bit of tweaking to keep it balanced and not cause a spiral into death. Who doesn't do that as a DM anyway? You have to bend the rules when it makes sense and keep it fun.

Wanna play Shadowrun? Know the Savage Worlds system? Don't wanna learn a new system? Get Interface Zero. This book is every bit as detailed and immersing as Shadowrun, but runs under the Savage Worlds ruleset. That means it is fast, furious, and easy to get into. Don't think that means it's light on worldbuilding. There is a TON of history of the world and information on how things got to be they way they are.

Similar stuff is going to appear in this book as in the above mentioned game, minus trolls I guess. You can be crazy hackers, futuristic weapons gurus, and smarmy face-men looking for the next job. Oh, you can also get mechs. Yeah, mechs. So yeah, I can't wait to run this and see how my players like it. Overall, it takes some time to get through the book at 300 pages, but not hard to get through the mechanics if you've played Savage World before. This is an impressive setting book.

This is a fun catch all supplement. Yeah, it has fumbles and crits specific for specific classes, monsters, etc., but also has treasures, traps, and hazards. I like the specific types of crits and fumbles. It adds a significant amount of flavor backed up by mechanics to your battles. Of course, you may not want to use these EVERY time or else your players may live or die by the extremes, but I do like throwing them in for dramatic effect as suggested by the book. This is a lot of book for $9 and I assure you, it's worth the money as it is dense with crunch and fluff.